Takeaways: Stars spoil Landeskog’s long-awaited return with OT win
Gabriel Landeskog is back, but the Colorado captain’s long-awaited homecoming was spoiled by the Dallas Stars, who earned their second straight overtime win to take a 2-1 series lead.
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Gabriel Landeskog is back, but the Colorado captain’s long-awaited homecoming was spoiled by the Dallas Stars, who earned their second straight overtime win to take a 2-1 series lead.
In his first game in nearly three years, Landeskog was greeted by a home crowd at Ball Arena that roared in appreciation for the player who’d fought through multiple surgeries and setbacks to earn his way back onto the ice.
Game 3 on Wednesday didn’t feature a storybook finish for Landeskog and Colorado, though it sure looked like it might. All tied up with 30 seconds to go in the third, Stars winger Mason Marchment caught Brock Nelson in the face with his stick and drew blood, drawing a four-minute penalty that extended into overtime.
But the Stars survived it and killed the double major, and it was Marchment — he’d gotten out of the penalty box little more than a minute earlier — who cued up the game-winner. He found Tyler Seguin cutting to the net, and Seguin made no mistake, burying a wrist shot top shelf to give the Stars the 2-1 win.
Dallas has led for fewer than 70 seconds in this three-game series, and they still find themselves up 2-1. Let’s take a look at the big storylines from an emotional night at Ball Arena.
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Benn’s back on the scoresheet
Dallas outplayed Colorado in the early goings of this game, but had nothing to show for it, trailing 1-0 after the first despite outshooting the Avs 14-5 in the opening frame.
It wasn’t until mid-way through the third period that they broke through and began the comeback effort, spurred by Jamie Benn. The Stars captain capitalized on the power play after defender Thomas Harley hit him with a shot-pass in the slot, and Benn deflected the puck over Mackenzie Blackwood’s glove to tie the game up.
Benn’s last goal came 19 games ago, and he sure picked a good time to get back on the scoresheet.
Avs centreman Nathan MacKinnon, who’d been serving an interference penalty, left the box straight-faced and chewing on his mouthguard. And while Benn returned to the scoresheet, Game 3 marked the first time MacKinnon hasn’t had a point in this series.
Rantanen heating up
Former long-time Avalanche star Mikko Rantanen had his best game of this series on Wednesday, drawing his first point and leading Dallas with five shots on net.
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Through the first two games, the flashy winger was minus-3 and pointless against his former teammates. (Rantanen spent the first decade of his career in Colorado until he was traded in January.)
He’d never gone three straight playoff games without a point, and in more than 80 post-season games, had averaged more than a point per game. Rantanen had 25 points in 20 games during Colorado’s Cup run in 2022.
Rantanen was key on the winning goal in Game 3, winning a battle along the boards to get the puck out of Dallas’ zone before feeding it to Marchment, who hit Seguin, who hit the back of the net.
Rantanen was buzzing all game long, generating good chances. The Finn has taken some time to heat up with the Stars this post-season, but now he’s cooking.
Also of note: Rantanen’s return to his old long-time home in Colorado was greeted with boos.
Welcome back Cap
Ball Arena was packed and absolutely rocking about an hour before this game started in anticipation of the captain’s return and Colorado’s first home game of these playoffs.
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Landeskog was the final Avs player announced as a starter and the “Landy!” cheers were in full force. His kids held up a sign that said: “So proud of you daddy!”
A tribute video was shown chronicling Landeskog’s three-year fight back from a chronic knee injury, and fans held a giant “Welcome Back Cap” sign. Through it all, Landeskog managed to stay dry-eyed.
He started on the top line with Mackinnon and Martin Necas, and the crowd responded like a goal was scored the first time Landeskog touched the puck (he didn’t score, but he did send a nice backhand pass to MacKinnon). Also during his first shift, the captain laid a hit on Rantanen, sending him to the ice, which drew another roar from the crowd. Everything the captain did drew cheers.
Landeskog played his last game on June 26, 2022, when the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup — the last time he was on the ice for an NHL game, he was literally hoisting the Cup over his head. He was activated from injured reserve Monday, and though he skated in warmups ahead of Game 2 in Dallas, Landeskog didn’t play.
The 32-year-old has been shelved due to an injured right knee that he’s had multiple surgeries on since the 2020 playoffs after it was accidentally sliced by the skate of his teammate, Cale Makar. Landeskog returned for the 2021-22 season but was still in pain. He had a cartilage transplant in 2023.
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It was an emotional return after three years of rehabilitation, surgeries and setbacks. And for a player who hadn’t played an NHL game in 1,032 days and jumped back into the playoffs, Landeskog looked incredible. He logged 13:16 of ice time, had six hits and a blocked shot. He nearly had an assist, but Charlie Coyle’s shot hit the post late in the second.
It was as good a return as Landeskog could’ve hoped for, aside from the end result.
Stars did not align
Serious miscommunication led to Colorado’s opening goal in the first period, as Valeri Nichushkin found himself on a surprise breakaway.
Not long after both teams drew penalties seconds apart, Nichushkin peeled up the left side of Dallas’ zone, then turned toward the middle and found himself all alone skating to the net, thanks in part to a pick set by a teammate, and Stars players who got mixed up as to who had who. Clearly, nobody had Nichushkin.
The Stars could only watch as Nichushkin busted out a sweet deke to beat Jake Oettinger, scoring on his forehand to give Colorado the 1-0 lead.
This marked the third straight game that Colorado found the back of the net first.
It also marked the second straight game in which Dallas found the back of the net last, in overtime. Game 4 is set for Saturday, April 26, back at Ball Arena, where Colorado will aim to even the series up.
